Democracy is ‘haram’ for Muslims, says Brit Islamist leader

Sydney: Australian Protectionist Party (APP) activists have protested against British Hizb ut-Tahrir (HT) leader Burhan Hanif’s advice to Aussie Muslims to spurn secular democracy and join the struggle for a transnational Islamic state.

Sydney organiser for the APP, Nick Folkes, said that the HT should be banned in Australia and thinks that practicing sharia law should be illegal in the country.

“Sharia law is an archaic legal system that treats woman as second-class citizens,” The News.com.au quoted Folkes, as saying.

“We’re not asking them to change their skin colour or religion, but if they come here, they must reject sharia law,” he added.

Earlier, Hanif had said that democracy is ‘haram’ for Muslims, and insisted that their political involvement could not be based on ‘secular and erroneous concepts such as democracy and freedom.’

“We must adhere to Islam and Islam alone. We should not be conned or succumb to the disingenuous and flawed narrative that the only way to engage politically is through the secular democratic process. It is prohibited and haram,” Hanif had said.

He further said that democracy was incompatible with Islam because the Koran insisted Allah was the sole lawmaker.

His views were echoed by Australian HT leader Wassim Dourehi, who said that Muslims should not support ‘any kafir (non-believer) political party.’

“We need to reject this new secular version of Islam. It is a perverted concoction of Western governments. It is a perversion that seeks to wipe away the political aspects of Islam and localise our concerns,” Dourehi said.

“We must reject it and challenge the proponents of this aberration of Islam,” he added.